Tsinghua University

[MGMT]

Well Chen Zhang and I just exchanged emails, and she told me the packages haven't been sent to us yet because they still haven't received them from the University! So if we have to first wait for the University to send it to them, then for them to send it to us, I'm starting to think we won't get them before the end of July. :s

Anyway just a heads up to you guys, at least we're all in the same situation. And in any case see you all soon!

[Posche]

Are there any people here doing the master in international relations???

I got all the admission stuff already and got the admission for the Tsinghua full scholarship already almost 2 month ago I think. But u guys surely got the email with the tuition payment information and the information about the residence permit, right? Except that there is not all that much new information in the admission package I think. The visa application form of course tho...

But nice to see so many people joining this forum! And good to know there are some more westerners here... nothing against Asians for sure, but some people kept telling me that these kind of English speaking master degrees were just full of Hongkonges, Koreans and Chinese who couldnt really speak English at all and no westerners would ever go to China for doing a degree...

[MGMT]

Hi Posche, and congrats on your admission!

Nope, I didn't get any email, and none of the other MID-ers I talked to got it either. It almost seems as if MID people are doing things separately from Tsinghua University, and as far as I can tell they're not doing a great job. Would you mind copy/pasting the information they gave you? I'm dying to get any detail, at this point!

And I don't know about the MIR, but I think MID is only open to international students? In any case, as per the website, about 70% are non-Asians, so there should be a few westerners around.

[Bunnyrabbit]

Oh nooo, that means that, if we're lucky, we will get the admission packages in early August... that's just too late! I am especially concerned about not being able to book one of the single dorm rooms on time... gulp! Oh well, as you said, at least we're all on the same boat.

@Posche: Congrats on the scholarship!!!! By the way, did you get the instructions for booking a dorm? If you did, could you post them as well?

See you around soon!!!

[ithzel]

Hey!

I believe the admissions packages are just being send out now. I concluded this sense my address was just confirmed yesterday. Also, I'm currently in Beijing now; however, my visa expires on July 30th and I asked Ms. Zhang if I could get the visa one month earlier but she said no because the university wouldn't be able to get the paper work out in time. So now i'm stuck with having to leave the country to change my visa. I don't think we are getting a student visa until we make our first payment during registration but I could be wrong.

[Posche]

Ok so here is quite all I got

Dear students:

Please pay attention to the following notice about tuition fee and comprehensive insurance fee payment, and residence permit application.

1. Tuition fee and comprehensive insurance fee payment

The university must receive the tuition fee and comprehensive insurance fee by September 15 for the academic year, with the exception of Chinese Government Scholarship recipients. A failure to do so will be regarded as voluntary withdrawal from the university.

Please note that fees transferred from outside mainland China usually take 6-8 weeks or longer for receipt of payment by Tsinghua University. Please make the payment in advance so Tsinghua University can receive the payment by September 15.

2. Residence permit application or application for residence permit extension

A student is eligible to apply for residence permit or residence permit extension once Tsinghua University has received the student’s payment of tuition fee and comprehensive insurance fee (Chinese Government Scholarship recipients need not to pay).

According to the new regulations of Public Security Bureau, starting from 2010, residence permit is extended year by year. Residence permit could be extended to the date of September 15 of the next year, or to the date of July 31 of the next year for the students in final year.

If a student’s residence permit expires before September 15, 2010, he/she can choose to pay at once. After Tsinghua receives the payment, he/she will be permitted to extend residence permit for the next year. Or he/she can choose to extend residence permit to the date of September 15 without payment of fees. After the fees are paid and received by Tsinghua by September 15, he/she can extend the residence permit to the date of September 15 of the next year.

For those who wish to pay fees from outside mainland china, please read the aforementioned information carefully to avoid the delay of residence permit extension.

Fee payment

1. Pay in person at Foreign Student Affairs Office. （Best way to pay）

Fees can be paid by cash, credit card or debit card. Foreign currency is accepted only during the registration date (August 30 - 31，2010)

2. Pay within Mainland China

Account number: 0200004509089131550

Account Name: Tsinghua University

Name of the Bank Office: Business Office of Haidianxiqu Sub-branch, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, Beijing Branch

Message: application fee ( your name, application number) to Foreign Students Affairs Office

Please do leave this message to let us know that this is the money from you.

3. Wireless Transfer ( from outside Mainland China)(not recommended)

Information for payment:

Bank: BANKING DEPARTMENT, HEAD OFFICE

BANK OF CHINA

Address: 1 Fuxingmen Nei Dajie

Beijing, China

Postcode: 100818

Account Name: TSINGHUA UNIVERSITY

Account Number: 00047108094001

Swift Code: BKCHCNBJ

Message: Payment for application fee ( your name, application number ) to Foreign Students Affairs Office

Please do leave this message to let us know that this is the money from you.

Please pay attention that you also need to pay transaction fee, and make sure that after exchange to RMB and transaction fee is paid, there will be enough money left.

[Posche]

In the admission package there was also information about the dormitory. For that we are supposed to go on the website www.thutraining.com and the register with our Student ID number (which u probably dont have yet since u havent received the admission package). But I tried several times n couldnt open the website at all, maybe u guys wanna give it a try. Then it also says "please check the website again from august 16 to august 19 to confrim the application result: successful or not" (quite Chinglish!) and then "for the new students who check in just one week before the registration time on the admission notice, we charge as the favorable room price. For those who check in before over one week, we charge normal room price for the days ahead of time" and "when you check in, you need to pay room rent for the whole term to january 31 plus deposit" it can be paid cash, with Chinese bank account card or with credit card (will charge some fee).

and you can also apply for a room by email gaopei@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn if you can not do it online. But for that you need ur student id as well of course.

Thats pretty much all it says so far...

[MGMT]

Thank you so much! So registration is August 31/31, then? Great to know, since I guess it'll probably be the same for MID students as well. Do they say when you should apply for a dorm room? Someone on the main Tsinghua thread said it would start on August 3rd, I think; I really hope we get the packages in time. Think if we don't Chen Zhang would agree to email us our students numbers so we could apply?

Do they give the room prices and discount prices as well?

Ithzel, great news! I hope it's sign that they are sending them... but since they made me confim my address almost a month ago, I'll just be cautiously optimistic! ;) Sorry for the visa issues -- though I think w'll get the visa before making the payment, since we need it to enter China. Or am I just confusing different things?

[Bunnyrabbit]

Yeah Posche, thanks so much for the info!!

I got the same email from ms Zhang yesterday asking me to confirm my address. She said "the packages will be sent out soon via express" (dunno if she meant snail mail express service of FedEx).

Yikes, so we have to pay rent for the whole term to January... I wonder what happens if we decide to move out. I hope they give you a refund for the time you didn't sleep there!

I have the feeling that the dorms aren't outstanding... I also like having a kitchen and I certainly do not like the idea of being watched by cameras all the time. Oh well, I guess things will be sort out once there.

[Posche]

Yeah registration seems to be 30/31 august for all postgraduate international students as u can see on the semester schedule too

http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/eng/board1/boardlist.jsp?boardid=34&bid2=3407&pageno=1

And about the dorms u probably all know this link that showed up in several other threads

http://www.ripplepath.net/housing---on-campus-dormitory-zijing-tsinghua/

the information given there is a bit old so the prices changed, in the admission package there are 3 kinds of prices for the 3 different kinds of rooms. There is a price for less than 180days, then one for more than 180days and then one "normal room price" (that would be the price before the discount week before the semester starts but only applies until then of course). So here are the prices

Single room 80/70/170

AB room 80/70/160

Double room 40/35/90

on that website it says that if u pay for half a year but leave early then u will get back the "unused" money.

@ihtzl

for the visa you get those documents with the admission package and take it to the consulate (or PSB in China then probably) and get a 30days visa so u get to China and then u register at uni, they give u some other paper stuff with that u go to PSB in China and they turn ur visa into a resident permit (multiple entry student visa/x-visa). As I am still in China now I asked the FSAO if I could turn my current China visa into that one if I come earlier in august already and they said I should just come and then they would see what to do... Haha that didnt sound all that convincing to me since I have also heard before of other people changing there visa from one type to another (for example tourist visa to student visa) without leaving the country. So I would really try to make that sure in advance if I was u!

@bunnyrabbit

waah no way they gonna send it by FedEx! I mean I dont know of course, but that would be very suprising indeed Dont expect them to be caring about u all that much

[Bunnyrabbit]

Tsinghua's admission mess makes bunny cry!! bwaaaaahaaa

[MGMT]

Oh, happy day, the application package has finally arrived..... except there's absolutely nothing in it!!!

Everyone, don't be too excited, it's about 5 pages (some of it in Chinese), 95% things we already knew. There's less information than what Posche told us!!

So the important thing first: registration is on August 30th/31st. And that's it. Ok, they also tell us there are 3 types of rooms, but don't even really describe them, and that it'll cost 80/80/40 (single/AB/double), and that food should cost 30rmb/day, or double that if you eat outside instead of on campus. They don't even give us the website to go to to get a room, just say to go to building 19!

Then there's visa and residence permit instruction, a bit unclear and nothing we didn't already know (we need an X visa since we're staying more than 6 months, apparently, except then they go on to say if we need an X visa, they've included the Physical Examination Form we need to do, and they haven't!). There's a map of campus, a small explanation about how to pay tuition (and again: much less than what Posche told us - thanks again!), an explanation of how to go from the airport to the campus, the official letter of admission, and the visa form.

So absolutely no information about the program, not even when it'll start, no details about the medical insurance, about how the scholarship money will be given, about the types of room, about various things that could be useful (like how to get a chinese bank account, important facilities on campus, when our classes will start, etc.) -- but at least I finally got it!

If any of you have questions, go ahead and ask -- I think I said everything there was in it, but I'm so annoyed by the lack of information that I may have skipped some things.

[Posche]

Haha interesting to see how one after the other is just going mad about this stuff! We will all have a burn-out syndrome before we even started!

I wonder if ever any Qinghua Uni responsibles take a look into this forum!

[Bunnyrabbit]

Everyone is getting their packages except for me, and that is stressing the heck out of me!

I think you can download the physical examination form from the Chinese embassy's website. There's a link for it on the CSC website too. I had to do it for the CSC application.

Well at least it's for sure registration is on August 30/31, now I can finally book the ticket!

[LAtoSH]

Hey all, my name is Matthew and I'll be attending Tsinghua this Fall. I'm from the U.S. but I've been living in China for two years now. I'm in the U.S. right now visiting family and friends, but I'll head to BJ at the end of August. It's great to see that there is a forum going and I look forward to meeting all of you.

I notice a few recurring themes in this thread, and I'd just like to add my 2 cents. In regards to dormitories, I lived in a student dormitory for a year when I studied in Shanghai and I know that most of you will want to move out if financially possible. Housing can be very affordable in China and you get a pretty good deal for your money, or for at least for what you may be used to.

Speaking of dormitories, I'm on the CSC scholarship and does anybody know which dormitory the scholarship provides on campus? I haven't received any of my packets yet. Unfortunately, I'm not able to afford to live off campus, so I've got to make the best of it. Is there a registration date for dormitories? Or does everything just take place at the end of August?

If anybody else has MSN, mine is LA2SH@hotmail.com, feel free to add me there or on facebook. You can find my facebook by searching for the e-mail myersminutes@gmail.com. Don't bother writing to this e-mail though because I don't use it regularly.

Matthew

[MGMT]

Hey Matthew, nice to meet you.

I'm on the CSC scholarship too, and if you head over to the Tsinghua thread there's quite a bit of talk about dorm rooms. I was told I would get an AB room and that I don't need to book it in advance (same as Posche who posted here a bit earlier), so you don't have to do anything except show up and ask for your room!

[Posche]

Yo am in Beijing right now and took a look at our wonderful dorms. Haha was very Qinghua-information-lack like again! I just went into one of the dorm buildings and asked if I could take a look... "No u have to go to building 23"! At building 23 they said "No u have to go to the 2nd floor". So I go to second floor n tell that nice young lady at the counter "I´m foreign student with scholarship and wanna check out what my room would be like" "Oh yeah for scholarship that means u get the double (shared) room!" "What? No way are u sure?" "Yes foreign students with scholarship always get that. For single room u have to pay extra!" "But at the FSAO they told me I get the AB room! Are u really sure??" "Yeah I´m very sure, but I can ask again!" So she turns around and seems to want to leave the room and go somewhere else to ask, then she changes her mind and just asks the lady at the desk next to her and then says "Oh sorry I was wrong. U r right!" waahhhhh!!! Crazy people!

Well anyway then I was sent to building 20 again cos that is where the AB rooms are and was able to take a look at the room. Hm... first impression is that it looks a bit like a prison with those big gray doors... But then inside its pretty ok, the rooms are quite bright, the furniture look a bit IKEA style, the bathroom is very small but ok and the "kitchen" (1-2square meters) really has a microwave! Nice!

[sugahigh]

Hi everyone,

I'm Heather and I'll be attending MID @ Tsinghua this fall as well.

I was quite disappointed at the admissions package I got as well. I'm in China at the moment with L visa, and I was asking the school if it's possible to change into X visa, but they were so anal about it, didn't want to really help out at all.

I was in Beijing last week looking for an apartment, and it was very hard to find a decent ones at a decent price. If anyone is looking for a place, I say try avoiding going through agents, but I must say, it is hard not to.

I'm still looking for an apartment with couple of others I have teamed up with. So if anyone needs a few days to crash while they are looking for a place, you are welcome to stay over... Well, given that I DO find a flat soon.

By the way, I'm not a 'Westerner'. I'm Korean, and I must say, I got a little offended when I read that most of the people in the program were/are HongKong-nese, Korean & Chinese who can't speak English well. I mean, that might be the case, but still, it felt like the Westerners want to team up against Asians are something.

Anyhow... Does of you who aren't here in China yet, travel safe, and hope to see you all soon.

Cheerios,

Heather

[Bunnyrabbit]

You CSC scholarship guys are lucky since you got the AB room assured for you!!

I just made the reservation for a single room... hopefully I can get one!!! I honestly can't imagine getting one of the doubles and sharing the room with God-knows-who!

[MGMT]

Hi Heather -- I'm impressed that you're directly looking for an appartment without first settling in! Would be interested to know what you'll find and at which price when you do; from what I read on the forum I thought if you shared with two other people, you would have no problem finding something good and cheap, but from what you say seems it's not so much the case... Well good luck to you and your friends! (Pure curiosity: will they be joining the MID program as well?)

Concerning the "english" situation, I don't think any of us think that (or at least I don't); but I have to say I would be concerned if most MID students were Korean, same way I would be if they were Russian, or Italian, etc., just because they'd have a natural tendency to speak in their own language instead of English. I had such an (unpleasant) experience with a class full of German people, so it's nice to know it can't happen again in our class.

@Bunnyrabbit: congrats on booking a single room, I heard those were gone after 30mn! Anyone else manage to book their room of choice? I logged in a few hours before it opened up to see what would happen, and was directly brought to a page "confirming" my reservation for an AB room. And yay for the microwave!